September 21, 1999: The Harvard Student Telephone Office suspends all phone charges applying to calls to Taiwan originating from anywhere on the Harvard campus and affiliated housing units. Elsewhere in Boston, the local chapter of the Tzu-Chi Foundation, the Taiwan Chamber of Commerce of New England, and the Monte Jade Science and Technology Association initiate a fund-raising effort to provide relief for earthquake victims.

Wednesday, September 22, 1999: TCS holds its first introductory general meeting of the year.

September 23, 1999: HUTSC organizes a candlelight vigil, co-sponsored by TCS and HROCSC, to memorialize earthquake victims and to collect donations for relief efforts. About seventy people gather on the steps of Memorial Church for a Buddhist blessing, and testimonials from those directly or indirectly affected by the disaster. Assembled vigil attendees donate a total of $1088 to be sent to Taiwan through the Tzu-Chi relief fund.

Friday, September 24, 1999: TCS holds its annual celebration of the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. While serving attendees red bean soup and almond tofu, TCS also guides TCSers in the making and decorating of their very own moon cakes. Of course, whether they choose to eat their creations or pass them off to unsuspecting roommates after completion is up to them.

Sunday, September 26, 1999: The TCS ultimate frisbee teams opens its season with a low-key throw-around session at JFK Park.

Tuesday-Friday, September 28-October 1, 1999: TCS tables in front of the Science Center to raise funds for earthquake victims. This effort is co-sponsored by the Harvard graduate student clubs, the Harvard Republic of China Students Club (HROCSC) and the Harvard University Taiwan Study Club (HUTSC).

Wednesday, September 29, 1999: TCS puts out a call to its newly signed-up Class of 2003 members for applications for first-year representatives.

Saturday, October 2, 1999: TCS goes on its monthly brunch run, this time taking interested members to Chinatown's Taiwan Cafe.

Tuesday, October 19, 1999: It's discovered that not just one, but two TCSers are featured in the Harvard admissions office's "Harvard College for Minority Students" brochure, with Carey Hsu demonstrating the strong minority presence in Harvard's venerable musical institutions and Chanda Ho demonstrating that yes, minorities at Harvard are just as free to fall asleep in class as anyone else. This discovery, of course, causes great glee among certain other TCSers, who will go unnamed here and also who may or may not have immediately paid a visit to the Harvard admissions office and picked up several extra copies "just in case".

Tuesday, October 5, 1999: TCS announces the selection and appointment of its new first-year representatives, Jennifer Chen and Genevieve Wang.

Tuesday, October 5, 1999: Taiwanese Table begins, this year in the Adams Small Dining Room.

Sunday, October 10, 1999: The TCS officers board holds its first open officers meeting of the year.

Friday, October 29, 1999: TCS holds a dumpling-making workshop in the common room at 20 DeWolfe Street.

Tuesday, November 2, 1999: TCS co-sponsors a discussion entitled "Strait Talk: The Possibility of a Military Confrontation in the Taiwan Strait" with the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and the Harvard Foundation for Race and Intercultural Relations. Held in Coolidge Hall, the panel discussion features Harvard's Professor William Kirby and Brown University's Professor Michael Ying-Mao Gao, and seeks to discuss the possibility of current controversy and cross-strait tension between Taiwan and China escalating into an armed conflict. Panelists and audience members alike struggle with the thinking of top officials on both sides, as well as familiarize themselves with the latest status of negotiations.

Saturday, November 6, 1999: TCS hosts the 1999 BITSA Conference. The one-day conference features, among other highlights, keynote speaker and cutting-edge cancer researcher at the University of Chicago, Shutsang Liao, and Asian pop sensation Wang Lee-Hom performing in the evening's closing concert.

Wednesday, November 10, 1999: TCS co-sponsors a karaoke, mahjongg, and Dance Dance Revolution night with the Harvard Chinese Students Association.

Saturday, November 13, 1999: The month TCS brunch run series continues, this time with a trip to Newbury Street's Wisteria House.

Monday, November 22, 1999: At the inquiry of TCSer Angela Wu, the head chef of Harvard Dining Services, Mike Miller, indicates his interest in working with members of TCS, and of other campus ethnic organizations for that matter, to improve the authenticity of the "ethnic" food served in Harvard dining halls. As Angela nor any of the officers has the time and/or inclination to pursue this at the current time. TCS puts out a call for other TCS members to lead the effort, but it goes unanswered, leading to the tabling of the issue. At the same time, planning begins for the 2000 Winterfest, and as such, a similar call goes out for help in that event.

Friday, December 17, 1999: TCS organizes and holds a benefit concert in Memorial Church to raise additional funds for Taiwanese earthquake relief efforts. The concert features the Kammerfeld Quartet (Joe Lin, Johnny Lee, Isaac Nakhimovsky, and Albert Pan) performing a Brahms string quartet, and Susan Koo, Eileen Woo, Jean Park, Katie Yoo, and Eric Wong performing a Dvorak piano quintet. Violinist Joe Lin and pianist Stephanie Wang also perform solo violin works based on Taiwanese folk songs by Taiwanese composer Tyzen Hsiao. The concert closes with a rousing performance by the Harvard Din and Tonics who perform several of their most popular pieces. The event is extremely well-received by the over 100 audience members in attendance, and manages to raise an additional $740 for relief efforts, due in a large part to the graciousness of all performers to perform for free and Memorial Church for providing performance space, also free of charge.

Saturday, December 18, 1999: TCS heads out into Chinatown for its final brunch run of the year.

Saturday, January 15, 2000: Early registration closes for the 2000 ITASA Conference at Brown University.

Saturday, February 5, 2000: TCS celebrates the Lunar New Year by holding a tang-yuan making & eating workshop in the DeWolfe Common Room.

February 18-20, 2000: A TCS contingent comprising Stanley Chan, Sandy Chang, Yu-Han Chang, Jay Chen, Vicki Chou, Eric Dai, Jeff Gu, Dennis Hsieh, Henry Hsieh, Carey Hsu, Angela Lin, Helen Lo, Kai Shih, Angie Tseng, Karen Tseng, Emily Wei, and Ethan Yeh attend the 2000 ITASA Conference at Brown University. Reviews of the conference are mixed, with complaints centering on large overlap of BITSA '99 speakers and difficulties with transportation to and from conference sites on campus and hotel housing nearly a half-hour away. Highlights for TCSers include Jay's inspired but ultimately fruitless Michael Jackson impersonation during Singled Out competition, a dinner performance by Harvard's own Asian American Dance Troupe featuring TCSers Mien Chyi and Jeni Tu, and an impromptu ultimate frisbee game in the snow involving Carey, Dennis, Henry, Kai, Yu-Han, and three random Brown guys.

Monday, February 21, 2000: Free of classes for the day thanks to Presidents Day, the TCS ultimate frisbee team faces off yet again with the Harvard Society of Physics Students for an invigorating game of ultimate frisbee in decidedly snow-covered JFK Park. SPS fails to turn out enough people for a full team, but those assembled decide to play a friendly game of pick-up instead. Great fun is had by all in a game with considerably more diving (and sliding!) catches than in most typical JFK Park games.

Saturday, February 26, 2000: To kick off the new semester, TCS heads out into Chinatown for its first brunch run of the spring semester.

Sunday, February 27, 2000: TCS holds its annual elections. Harvard Foundation representative and 1999 TCS presidential candidate Carey Hsu and treasurer Helen Lo run unopposed for the co-presidency and are both elected, marking the fourth consecutive year that a rising senior male and rising junior female has occupied the TCS presidency, as well as the third consecutive year in which an unsuccessful presidential candidate from the previous year has run again and succeeded in capturing the co-presidency. Educational and cultural chair Grace Kao is elected secretary while BITSA '99 business co-chair Karen Guo is elected TCS treasurer. First-year representative Jen Chen is then elected to be one of the educational and cultural chairs, joined by officer board newcomer Stephanie Wang. BITSA' 99 social chair Vicki Chou is elected public relations/social chair, and BITSA '99 business co-chair William Lee is elected Harvard Foundation representative. Other newcomers to the officer board are publicity co-chairs Roger Huang and John Tsou, and interethnic representative Dennis Hsieh.

February 28, 2000: TCS holds a commemoration of the 2-28 Incident by inviting Harvard Professor William Kirby to discuss the Incident and its effects on current Taiwanese politics. The event is held in the Loker Commons Coffeehouse and attracts perhaps 30 attendees.

February 28, 2000: Co-sponsored by the Harvard Asian American Association and Chinese Students Association, TCS sponsors a book reading and discussion with author Leslie Chang, author of Beyond the Narrow Gate: The Journey of Four Chinese Women From the Middle Kingdom to Middle America, which chronicles her mother's journey from China to Taiwan in the late 1940s and finally to the United States in 1955.

Friday, March 3, 2000: TCS members attend a gala fundraiser in the Copley Plaza Hotel for Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) in a lobbying effort aimed at garnering the Senator's support for the Taiwan Security Enhancement Act that had just recently been passed by the United States House of Representatives and was currently awaiting approval by the Senate.

Saturday, March 4, 2000: TCS invites visiting parents of TCS juniors in town for Junior Parents Weekend to a dinner at Ta Sheng Restaurant.

Saturday, March 11, 2000: The new TCS officer board attends the Hawai'i Club's first annual luau in Quincy Dining Hall as an early-evening component of the evening's new officers' retreat. During the luau, new co-presidents Carey Hsu and Helen Lo are somehow coaxed or forced onstage to receive hula lessons from Hawai'i Club president and fellow TCSer Nancy Chang.

Sunday, March 12, 2000: TCS holds a general meeting in the Quincy Junior Common Room to recruit last-minute help for the Winterfest to be held on the upcoming Friday.

Friday, March 17, 2000: TCS holds its third annual Winterfest in Quincy Dining Hall, attracting over 300 people. braised chicken drum sticks & eggs (lu dan & chi twei), stir-fried rice sticks (chow mi fen), Taiwanese-style sausage, braised ground pork over rice (lu rou fan/lo ba beng), steamed sweet rice with Taiwanese flavor, turnip rice cake (luo buo gao/tsai tao gwei), teriyaki chicken wings, egg Rolls, pan Fried Meat Buns (chien bao), meatless green beans, traditional Taiwanese pork dumplings, traditional Taiwanese vegetarian dumplings, scallion pancakes (tsong you bing), ma-po tofu (vegetarian), white rice, pearl milk tea (zin-zhu nai-tsa), oolong tea, shiang bao making, chinese calligraphy, chwa-biang making, mua-ji making, Chinese strategy games (Chinese chess, mahjongg, go or wei chi), 5-tze chi), chopstick gun making Enrich your mind: Cultural & Art Exhibits Chinese Yoyo Taiwan Scenery Paper Cutouts Chinese Knotting Encyclopedia of Taiwanese culture Lotus Flower making Ribbon Paper stars Origami 2-28 Incident

March 18, 2000: Democratic Progressive Party candidate Chen Shui-Bian edges out independent candidate James Tsu-Yu Soong (formerly of the Kuomintang), 39.30% to 36.84% to win Taiwan's 2000 presidential elections. Kuomintang candidate Lien Chan finished third with 23.10% of the popular vote.

Wednesday, April 12, 2000: TCS joins the Harvard Asian American Association, RAZA, Asian American Brotherhood, Native Americans at Harvard College, Korean Association, Minority Students Alliance, Black Men's Forum, and the Harvard Philippine Forum in co-sponsoring a panel discussion on interracial dating entitled "Is Love Color Blind?" Held in Emerson Hall, the panel made up of variously selected Harvard undergraduates discusses reasons why some individuals choose only to date others of their own race while others prefer to date outside of their own race, and the perceptions of interracial dating in different communities.

Saturday, April 22, 2000: BITSA holds its first annual spring picnic and elections, bringing together students from Boston College, Boston University, Brown University, Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University, and Wellesley College. Activities are led and organized by Wellesley's Karen Chang and Harvard's Yu-Han Chang. With rain preventing the picnic from taking place outdoors, activities are held indoors in the Winthrop Junior Common Room at Harvard instead of its originally planned location on the Harvard Business School lawn. Harvard's Henry Hsieh and Wellesley's Annie Chu are selected by representatives from each of various BITSA member schools to become BITSA's first officially-titled co-presidents, beating out Harvard's Dennis Hsieh who is then instead chosen to become the BITSA secretary/treasurer for the upcoming year.

Saturday, April 29, 2000: TCS holds a reception as part of the activities for Harvard's prospective student weekend. The reception is held in the Loker Commons Coffeehouse and features TCS-cooked dumplings as well as TCSers themselves on hand to greet prospective students and answer any questions and address any concerns that they may have about TCS or Harvard in general. Later that evening, along with the Harvard Asian American Association, Asian American Brotherhood, Black Students Association, Chinese Students Association, Hong Kong Club, and the Japan Society, TCS co-sponsors a pre-frosh dance entitled "Fusion" held in Lowell Dining Hall.

Sunday, April 30, 2000: TCS mans a booth at Harvard's annual Springfest, held on the Malkin Athletic Center Quad, passing out pastries from Chinatown to assembled revelers.

May 14, 2000: TCS holds its annual senior farewell picnic. This year, TCS officers opt to give their graduating seniors each a set of custom-engraved metal chopsticks, engraved with "Harvard TCS". Additionally, as a prank of sorts, senior Grace Liu arranges for a group of Harvard cheerleaders (whose services she'd purchased at a recent Eliot House charity fund-raising auction) to be present at the picnic to give fellow graduating senior and immediately former TCS president Henry Hsieh a personal cheer for finally finishing his astronomy thesis.

Sunday, June 18, 2000: TCS alumni Yu-Han Chang and Henry Hsieh join the MIT Association of Taiwanese Students team in the 21st annual Boston Dragonboat Festival.

August 12, 2000: TCS frisbees arrive in the mail. Designed by Henry Hsieh, the frisbees feature a bird of paradise overlaid with the Chinese characters "Tai3 Wan1" and English words "Ultimate" and "Harvard TCS". One hundred discs (the minimum) are ordered, with fifty being white with metallic blue printing and the other fifty being teal-green with silver metallic print.